None hurt in hard landing at Utah air base

Associated Press

August 17, 2014 - 10:20 PM

HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah — All six crew members aboard a C-130 air tanker escaped injury when a possible landing gear malfunction forced an emergency landing at Hill Air Force Base near Ogden, Utah, that started a small fire.

U.S. Northern Command and Air Force officials say the aircraft on its way to refuel for a firefighting mission made a hard landing around 1 p.m. MDT Sunday after the crew noticed the potential problem with the nose landing gear.

The aircraft owned by the Wyoming Air National Guard sustained damage that included the small blaze.

The air tanker is one of two Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead recently activated to help fight fires in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah and California.

Hill Air Force Base said the aircraft had planned to refuel and resupply at the base.